Norfolk School Board delays school closure, consolidation plan

NORFOLK, Va. – After months of planning to close and consolidate nine schools across Norfolk, the city’s school board has decided to table their final decision on when to execute those plans until hearing from the community first.

Following the conclusion of a Sept. 29 board meeting, an updated plan was presented that provided dates for the nine schools expected to close and five to get consolidated over the course of six years.

This ruling comes after months of public criticism and discourse from Norfolk residents, as the Norfolk School Board (NSB) was seemingly pressured by the city council into finalizing their plans to save money on increasing repair costs to each school building’s infrastructure, coupled with a declining enrollment rate. 

The city of Norfolk provided NSB with $164.2 million for operating costs this year, in addition to covering any capital costs, as outlined in the city’s resolution to the board. The resolution further emphasizes that there must be a sense of urgency to correct the underutilization of elementary, middle, and high school buildings. 

“If the closure and consolidation plan is not timely provided and implemented, it would appear necessary that the Council take steps to provide consequences for delay,” the city of Norfolk wrote in their resolution.

“Such steps could include changing the appropriation to NPS [Norfolk Public Schools] from a lump-sum appropriation to a directed appropriation thereby giving Council more control over school appropriations in order to ameliorate the estimated loss of funds due to surplus capacity of school buildings,” according to the resolution.

The proposed plan would close Chesterfield Academy during the 2028-2029 school year for a new SECEP (Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs) location, while focusing on rebuilding Suburban Park and St. Helena elementary schools.

Carl Poole, Norfolk resident and alumnus of Chesterfield Academy, said in the city’s haste to close these school buildings, they’ve failed to understand the impact it will have on the community, especially school personnel.

“The focus has been on the facilities and buildings themselves, and not about the folks who are in those school communities, not about teachers and parents, not about students directly,” Poole emphasized about the school board’s plan. 

Sarah DiCalogero, chairwoman for the Norfolk School Board, agreed with the need for more community input before arriving at a decision.

“There’s really no way we could vote tonight because we need to get feedback from the community and the stakeholders,” DiCalogero said. “Although I feel very confident in our plan, there might be something that we are not aware of, and they’ll definitely get in touch with us.”

The board hopes to have the revised plan on their website before their joint meeting with city council on Oct. 7, with the hope to reach a decision on Oct. 15.

Schools expected to close beginning in the 2026-2027 school year are: Willoughby Early Childhood Center, Berkeley Early Childhood Center, and Norview Elementary School. The following year, Tarralton, P.B. Young, Granby and Ghent elementary schools are to be closed.

Berkley-Campostella Early Childhood Center would be closed during the 2029-2030 school year, while Norfolk Technical Center will close over the course of the 2030-2032 school years.

Lake Taylor High would be rebuilt during the same timeframe.